


Damage

by phoenixburncold



Series: Snippets of the Mystery Skulls Team [2]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Hospital Visit, Hunt, One Shot, Realistic injuries, Swearing, before the events of "Ghost", i mean from a ghost i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28081833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixburncold/pseuds/phoenixburncold
Summary: Another Mystery Skulls Investigators hunt
Series: Snippets of the Mystery Skulls Team [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026360
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Damage

Lewis pants, trying to get his bearings. He is wedged into a corner that did not fit his full frame. The phantom they were trying to take care of is _definitely_ angry. It had cut through their radios and if Mystery hadn’t barked in time they would have been crushed by the table. As it was, they were effectively split up, as they all scrambled out of the way. Lewis had seen Arthur dive into the billiards room that was ahead of him, Vivi had rolled under the dining room table to the right with Mystery at her heels. Lewis had thrown himself into what looks like the trophy room to the left of the hallway they had been walking down when the table threw itself from…the billiards room.

Lewis gasps before throwing himself through the door, racing for Arthur. He finds the other man hiding under the nearest billiards table, shaking, eyes large. “Arthur,” Lewis breathes in relief.

“Shh!”

The eight ball lifts from the table, jumps up as if it’s been tossed in a hand, and then heads straight for Lewis. The large man ducks, hearing the ball wedge itself in the doorway behind him with a heavy _THUNK_. Arthur whimpers, looking around desperately for another hiding spot. Another ball zooms towards Lewis, who rolls to the right, just missing contact from the ball.

 _Of course,_ Lewis thinks. _The guy took so much pride in his billiards games of course he’d haunt something like a table._ He scrambles up, trying to see the next ball in the partially lit room. _At least the windows are big and the moon is out_ , he thinks before throwing himself to the right again, the ball heading for his head.

Lewis frantically looks for something to defend himself. The phantom refuses to show itself, so there’s no way to attack it. _Clever bastard,_ Lewis thinks bitterly.

“LEW!”

Lewis looks over at Arthur who is holding a strangely glowing cue stick, crouched beside the table. They make eye contact and Arthur tosses the stick to Lewis.

Lewis reaches for it.

Then two things happen at once. The first is a billiards ball slamming into Lewis’s shoulder, wrenching his arm out of its socket. At the same time, Lewis watches Arthur get picked up and thrown into the corner of the table hard enough to move it back a few inches. Arthur drops and makes no attempt to protect his head, or move from the face-down heap he lands in.

“ARTHUR,” Lewis screams before looking down desperately. There, the cue had clattered to the ground nearby Lewis. He snatches it and slams it hard against the ground, splitting it into two. There is a howl and something near the table sparks. Lewis snaps the two pieces into four for good measure, satisfied only when howl goes silent and the color drains from the cue.

“Arthur!”

Lewis races to Arthur’s body, crouching over him before gently turning him over. Blood’s streaking out of his mouth and Lewis feels like a cold hand is gripping his guts. “Oh gods. Shit. _Shit._ Arthur, buddy, please open your eyes!”

Miraculously, Arthur’s eyes do open. He coughs, and blood splatters into the air, landing on Lewis's and his own shirt. " _Ow_ ,” he moans.

Lewis lets his breath out, not realizing he had been holding it.

“I bit my tongue,” Arthur says, spitting blood. Then he puts a hand on his chest, letting out a groan as he takes short breaths. “Oh, I think I’ve got a broken rib.” He blinks and looks at Lewis. “Oh _shit_ ,” he says, struggling to sit up. “Lewis your arm!”

Lewis looks over at his oddly hanging arm. “Oh yeah, it looks pretty bad doesn’t it?”

“It doesn’t hurt?”

“I was too scared you were dead to feel it,” Lewis says before sitting down hard against the leg of the table. “But it’s definitely making up for lost time.”

Arthur finally makes it to a sitting position next to Lewis, coughing blood. His breaths are short and fast and he looks in as much pain as Lewis is in.

“Guys? Guys? If you don’t answer me _right now_ – !” Vivi’s threat dies in her throat as she enters the room, looking at the two. Mystery races toward them, sniffing at each of them, face tight. _“Shit.”_

“That’s the consensus,” Lewis says, trying to stifle a moan and not quite achieving it. 

“What’s the damage?” Vivi asks, kneeling in front of them.

“Arthur bit his tongue and thinks he’s got a broken rib. My shoulder’s just out of its socket.” He catches her eyes. “He got slammed pretty hard.”

“Hey, you took a billiard ball to the shoulder,” Arthur says before bending over slightly, blood sluggishly dripping out of his mouth.

“You both are going to the hospital.” Vivi stands and helps Arthur to his feet as Lewis braces his good hand on the table, pulling himself up to stand. Arthur walks slowly with Vivi as support, lying flat in the backseat when they get to the Van. Lewis is up front with Mystery as Vivi gets into the driver’s seat, pulls the seat closer to the wheel, and starts the Van.

The hospital is the only one in town and by now almost all the night staff know them. As they limp through the doors, Vivi smiles at the receptionist from under Arthur’s slumped body. “Hi Ms. Jenkins,” she says. “The cats feeling better?”

“Much,” the woman replies before standing and looking over the two men. “What’s the damage tonight fellas?”

“Lewis has a shoulder out of the socket. But I’m more worried about Arthur. I’m pretty sure he broke a rib and his lung collapsed.”

The nurses walked the men into different rooms. Vivi filled out the necessary paperwork in the sitting room, knowing she couldn’t join them until it was done. A flurry of motion brings her attention away from the paperwork, Dr. Alannah and another nurse rushing into the room they put Arthur in. A few seconds later a gurney is rushed into the room. Now, Vivi stands, clipboard gripped in her hand, her face pale as she watches them move Arthur behind the doors no amount of bribing or smiling could get her through without invitation.

She drops back into the chair, furiously finishing the last of the paperwork. She gives the completed papers to Ms. Jenkins, who smiles comfortingly at her. A nurse leaves Lewis’s room and soon Lewis leaves it as well, arm in place again and in a sling. His face goes tight when he looks at Vivi, who quickly tells him about Arthur.

Dr. Alannah comes into the lobby some time later, practically into Lewis, Vivi next to him.

“He’s okay,” she tells them. “His lung was indeed collapsed and he was losing consciousness. We removed the splintered bone from his lung and reflated the lung, sealing the wound. He’s getting oxygen therapy right now. I’ll let you see him.” She turns on her heel and walks briskly down the hall and the door that matters, nodding to it before leaving them.

Vivi goes in first.

Arthur looks rather small in the bed, his face obscured by the large oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. He’s hooked up with an IV and heart and oxygen monitor.

Vivi stands next to him, holding the hand that doesn’t seem covered in wires. “He’ll be fine,” she says, looking down at him. “They had to put him under to remove the bone shards. He’ll be up tomorrow morning and working on some new project in a week.”

Lewis’s hand fills her empty one and she looks up at him with tears in her eyes. “I know he will,” she says, swallowing. “But I still can’t stand seeing him look so small.”

“I know,” Lewis replies, before releasing her hand and brushing a gentle fingertip under her eye, wiping away the tear that’s fallen there.

`````` 

Arthur wakes up slowly. His nose feels dry and his chest aches. Beeps sound around him and it feels like he’s gotten kicked by a horse. _Close enough_ , he thinks, the previous night’s memories coming in. He sniffs, wiggling his nose to confirm the reason his nose is so dry is because of the oxygen tubes shoved up his nostrils. He tries opening his eyes with some difficulty – gunk’s coating his lashes.

“Hang on,” Vivi says, the blur next to him. Something wet dabs at his eyes, freeing them.

Arthur looks up at her giving a weak smile. “Hey.”

“Good morning,” she replies, throwing away the wet tissue. Lewis is asleep in the chair by the window behind her. “How do you feel?”

“Like I have a broken rib and had a punctured lung. Did they use chemicals or stitches to close the lung?”

Vivi shakes her head. “I didn’t ask.”

“Ah well, doesn’t really matter.”

She gives him a wobbly smile.

“I’m fine, Vi. Honest. They’ll keep me on the oxygen until they’re sure the lung’s fine and then I’ll be here for a couple more days so they can keep an eye on me before I’ll be back in Uncle Lance’s shop under a car. Oh, did you call him yet?”

Vivi nods. “An hour ago. Gave me another earful.”

Arthur smiles. “I bet.”

Lewis snores lightly, head leaning back against the wall, making both of them look at him a moment before sharing a smile.

“I figured I’d let him sleep since I didn’t want to leave before you woke up.” 

Arthur wiggles his fingers, reaching for her hand she’s left resting on the side of the bed, taking it gently. “I’m fine,” he assures her, looking into her blue eyes. “Take Lewis home and get some real sleep.”

She squeezes his hand and nods before leaning over him and kissing his forehead. His chest tightens and not because of the broken rib. He releases her hand.

“See you later,” she tells him, still leaning over, before straightening and gently prodding Lewis’s good shoulder.

“Hnhg?” Lewis's head whips up, awake.

“Come on Lew, say goodbye to Arthur before I drive you home.”

Lewis looks around Vivi, smiling sleepily at him. “See you later,” he says. “I’m sure Vivi will be back in this afternoon. I’m not sure Mom will have me doing anything dishes for a while.” 

“That’s okay,” Arthur says. “Take care of the shoulder.”

Lewis nods, standing before reaching out for Arthur’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

Arthur twiddles his fingers at them as they leave before lying back in the bed and going back to sleep. 


End file.
